


The After

by sapphicsapphire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, endgame only kind of happened, it's just fluff lads!, regular avenger stuff, they are in Love fuck you, they eat churros and save each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 09:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicsapphire/pseuds/sapphicsapphire
Summary: Stephen has to deal with something he's never dealt with before. Surviving. Luckily, the local genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist is knocking at his door.





	The After

**Author's Note:**

> okay so i didn't know what to do with pepper and morgan so i,,, didn't mention them because it's midnight and i'm lazy. imagine pepper is off making out with may parker or something.

Stephen had never known the after. 

Before the accident there was the working, and after it there was the searching. Blink. Then the learning. Blink. The waiting. Blink. The fighting. The near endless fighting. 

And then on Titan, the nothing. Blink. The awakening. Blink. The fight carried on. 

His whole life he had never known an after. He had known the continuing, the monotonous, the endless. 

But here he was. After. A rebuilt world, a rebuilt life. And here he was, sitting on a park bench, next to Tony Stark. After. Eating a churro. After. 

Stark had turned up at the Sanctum only an hour before, one hand in his pocket, his other, the Stark Industries state of the art prosthetic arm, giving a quick salute. 

"The hospital let you out already?" Stephen had asked, an eyebrow raised. 

Tony just shrugged. "I bought the hospital. They had to let me leave." 

Stephen understood that as Tony had gotten bored. He had built himself a new arm within days of being bedridden, and Peter had just left on a school trip to Europe. 

"Do you wanna get a churro?" Stark has gotten better at asking instead of demanding, and while this was phrased as a question, it was more of an order. So Stephen followed him out the door and into a local park. 

And here he was. Inches from Earth's Saviour, who currently covered in sugar. It almost felt... normal. Stephen was wearing everyday civilian clothes, and Tony's face was masked by his yellow aviators. They were just two more people in a city park. 

"I probably should have paid for these." Stephen muttered, looking down at the fried batter in his shaking hands. 

Tony looked at him incredulously. "You realize I'm one of the richest people in the world, right? Five bucks for some churros ain't gonna bankrupt me, Doc. 

"Well, I've got to start paying you back at some point, don't I?" 

Stark took off his sunglasses and turned towards him completely, churro forgotten. 

"Since when do you owe me money? I'm pretty sure you've been in Grandma's urn for the past five years, and I don't think I'm that bad at poker..."

Stephen chuckled, and shook his head. "You've saved my life multiple times. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for that." 

Tony looked as if he was about to cut him off, and Stephen wasn't going to let him. 

"You saved my life for the first time in 2012. I was in New York during the invasion. The Chitauri attacked the hospital while I was inside it, operating on a patient. You fought them off before they managed to get inside." 

Tony looked embarrassed at that. 

"The second time was after the accident. It was Stark tech that saved my life, and it was Stark tech that managed to salvage my hands." 

Tony looked down at Stephen's hands as he raised the churro to his mouth. And maybe it was his imagination, but the man's eyes seemed to follow his tongue as he licked the sugar off of his lips. 

"The next two you know. You brought us all back from the Soul Stone, and you saved us all from Thanos a second time." He finally found the courage to look Tony in the eye. "You're my hero, Tony Stark. Four times over." 

Tony surged forward, knocking Stephen's churro out of his hand. Stephen couldn't do anything but kiss him back. When Tony Stark wants something, he gets it. And this time, the thing he wanted was just as hungry as he was. 

"Here's how you can repay me," He grinned, and Stephen knew he would do anything he asked. "Let me take you out to dinner. Somewhere nice, fancy, we can get dressed up. Who knows, maybe the tabloids will pin you as my trophy husband." 

"Marriage already, Stark? I'd save that for at least the fifth date." 

"Is that so?" Tony smirked, and stood up, offering Stephen his hand. "Shall we get going? I bet we could get at least three dates in in the next eight hours." 

Stephen laughed, and took his hand. Tony led him back to Stark Tower, out of the shadows of his past and into the light of the future. Out of the before and into the after. 

Tony smiled, and Stephen smiled back.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! follow me on tumblr @ambersdyke


End file.
